This is for you computer genius's?

Question

The white house is saying the the lost emails from Rove and others can not be retrieved. Is this spin ?

Answer 1

Yes they can be retrieved.
ALL e-mails remain on the hard drive, even when using shredder (tm) can be retrieved.

Answer 2

Last I heard they said they were looking for them, not that they couldn't be retrieved. If they were deleted, they might have been wiped by overwriting them several times (usually done to a whole hard disk), or overwritten by newer data if (as I heard somewhere) the policy was to delete them after 30 days. They could also possibly be found on the Justice department's computers or as part of an e-mail that has been forwarded, including the old message. So it is not possible to say they can't be found, just that they have not been yet. It's also not sure that they can be found, a serious effort would mean collecting all the computers and giving them to a team of neutral experts.

Answer 3

First of all you're assuming the mail was on the the government computer. I'm hearing that new communications technology could bypass the government controlled computers. That's the mail they want. And the administration is trying to get it now. But Leahy is just a shrill making up stuff as he goes. He has no idea if there is anyone hiding anything. You scream loud enough and long enough and all the conspiracy folks come running. Wait and see what turns up, then you can mud sling all you want.

Answer 4

Going out on a limb here: The White House probably has SUPER SECURE computer systems that irretrievably delete data.

It's not like Bush has an eMachine in the Oval Office.

For all the "haxors" saying that you can get data off of a hard drive: Are you brainiacs familiar with what it takes to be qualified as a military grade data deletion protocol?

Answer 5

It is quite likely that the White House and the Congressional email system(s) have sufficient safeguards to both save and delete emails permanently and securely as desired. Further, it is quite likely that those who are most vocal about the emails being deleted know this and count on it.

Answer 6

Total spin. Deleted files, especially emails, are almost always retrievable. It's not hard to do.

Experts know that the "delete" button is a joke if you are trying to truly "eliminate" a data file.

The only 100% sure method is physical destruction of the disk.

Answer 7

I had computer forensics in my office a month ago, they downloaded everything! Just because you delete an email doesn't mean they can't be retrieved. Those guys at the White House are probably shi**ing bricks.

Answer 8

Of course it is. Everything coming out of the White House is spin. Yes, they can most likely be retrieved.

Answer 9

Yep. They absolutely can be retrieved. Maybe not all of them, but alot of them can be. There are people who specialize in recovering lost data from hard drives.\

Here are a few places that do it. There are hundreds.

Answer 10

Absolute deception out of the Administration.

Maybe we should call up the NSA and the FBI, I just know they'd love to dig up the WH's emails, since they've been doing it to the common people for years now.

Answer 11

That all depends on what they did with them. You can listen to people telling you teh data can be retrieved but it all depends on what they did to remove them.

A thorough enough whiping of data on a hard drive and you wont be able to retrieve anything. write binary 0's to all sectors of the drive then, write 1's to every sector of the drive, then write 0's again to every sector of the drive and see how much data can be retrieved after that. nothing.